The adequacy and public perception of the public toilet provision on Guernsey

McDermott, Patricia Mary and Kernohan, George
(2012)
The adequacy and public perception of the public toilet provision on Guernsey.
Journal of Environmental Health Research, 12
(1).
pp. 59-67.
[Journal article]

Abstract

In recent years there has been a decline in the state ofpublic toilets and, with over 50% of the public toiletsbeing closed, this has become a cause for public concern.Local authorities have no legal requirement to providepublic toilets and because of this some towns have nopublic toilet provision. The aim of this study was toinvestigate the adequacy and provision of the publictoilets on the Island of Guernsey. This investigation wasundertaken through observation of the 30 public toiletblocks and a questionnaire exploring the provision of thepublic toilets, emailed to a representative sample of theIsland population. All 18 of the toilets for those withdisabilities, 26 (out of 30) of the male and 27 (out of 30)of the female public toilets were observed and theresponse rate to the questionnaire was 48% (n=264).Results confirmed that there are an adequate number ofpublic toilet facilities for the Island’s population inaccordance with the British Standards. Fifty-five per centof respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with thenumber of facilities. However concerns were expressedabout the number of the public toilet that were closedduring the winter months and the proposed closure oftoilets in an effort to save money. The researchconcluded that the adequacy, provision and impressionof the public toilets on Guernsey was good, but moreattention needs to be given to year-round availabilityand the additional facilities required within them.